Phantom of the Nightmare
by SyfyGuy2
Summary: The Yorkville Troop is sent in to save Hayley from a nightmare-creating monster. Meanwhile, Jake and Felix track an elusive, electrical monster across Lakewood.
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place between my last Troop fanfiction, Leaves of Evil, and The Next Stop: Lakewood.

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><p><strong>Phantom of the Nightmare<strong>

Chapter 1

Hayley was awoken by an eerie scuttling sound from the shadows throughout her bedroom.

Snapping awake, she swiped the Circuitron she kept for emergencies out from under her pillow, and snapped up into a sitting position in bed, Circuitron raised, eyes scanning the darkest corners of her bedroom for the slightest movement from a monster.

The silver moonlight pouring into Hayley's room from her bedroom bathed her bed and most of the room in a sheet of silver, but there were many corners bathed in charcoal-blackness, perfect for a small enough monster to hide in.

Then realization struck Hayley as something blue, about the size of a dog, scuttled up from under her bed and onto the sheets at Hayley's feet, milky white eyes suddenly turning scarlet with hunger.

Hayley raised her Circuitron at the monster and left her heart leap as she recognized it.

Then, as though Hayley's realization had rung the dinner bell, the monster pounced across the bed from Hayley's face, jaws snapping and eyes glinting with insane hunger. The monster's glinting, silver mouthful of fangs was the last thing Hayley saw before, as though someone had hit an off switch for her brain, everything was gone.

**Six hours later**

Jake stood at the foot of Hayley's bed, dozens of horrifying thoughts he struggled to push away flowing through his mind at the sight of the lifeless figure sprawled across the pillows and bedsheets.

Felix was bent over Hayley's unmoving form, holding an eye open and shining a small torch at it in a manner which absurdly reminded Jake of something out of _CSI_.

Mr. Stockley, meanwhile, had his hands full trying to assure the Steeles outside in the hallway that Hayley was alright.

"Is she alright?" Jake cried out for the hundredth time.

"She's definitely in some kind of REM," Felix replied flatly, not raising his face or lowering the torch.

Then, as though on cue, Mr. Stockley pushed in through the doorway and glanced between Jake, Felix, and the lifeless Hayley.

"What we got?" Mr. Stockley demanded, but in a more concerned tone than usual.

"Definitely a Class 2 mind parasite," Felix reported, finally glancing up. "Could be a Soul Collector or a Dreamworm."

Finally lowering the torch from Hayley's eyes, Felix slipped his portable Troop Grid from his pocket and held it up above Hayley's body.

The moment the Troop Grid's spectrum showed the otherwise invisible, frog-like footprints leading across the pillows and bedsheets up Hayley's body, then vanishing before her open mouth, Felix knew at once what the monster was.

"It's a Dreamworm," he reported to no-one in particular.

"Which is?" Jake demanded.

"A monster which enters a human host, forces the host into a coma-like sleep, and causes the host to endure their deepest, darkest nightmares," Felix explained.

At that moment, as if on cue as well as Mr. Stockley's arrival, a faint beeping rang out from Felix's Troop Grid, and without thinking, he held it up to his face.

Almost as soon as Felix's eyes met the portable Troop Grid, they widened and glinted with excitement. "You're never gonna believe this!" he exclaimed. "An Electromancer just showed up at the power station!"

"What's an Electro…" Jake cried out, his blood boiling at how Felix could so suddenly think of something other than Hayley's safety! _She could be dead for all they knew!_

"Only one of the most elusive monsters ever known to the Troop!" Felix squealed like a child.

"It's an electrical monster which commonly uses its electric-based abilities to cause mass mischief and destruction," Mr. Stockley explained calmly as Felix continued to unleash his childish excitement.

"What about Hayley?" Jake exclaimed, not forgetting about her like Felix.

"We have some tech at Troop HQ which will allow other Troop members' minds to enter Hayley's, where they can defeat and extract the Dreamworm," Mr. Stockley replied.

"Then let's do it!" Jake cried out.

"The Troop from Yorkville will take care of that," Mr. Stockley replied. "You and Felix deal with the Electromancer."

At once, Jake felt a mixture of confusion and anger flood through him.

Mr. Stockley noticed this before Jake could burst out his fury, and explained, "I know you're upset Jake, but we need your skill and Felix's intelligence to capture the Electromancer. I'll call in the Yorkville Troop to take care of Hayley."

Jake opened his mouth to throw out a protest, but then he read the expression on the unmoving Mr. Stockley's face and saw at once that he wasn't going to change his mind.

"We better get going," Felix said, stepping up beside Jake. Without a single word, Jake stormed off, brushing past Mr. Stockley along the way, out the door and into the hallway, Felix following close behind.

As the two moved down the stairs, Jake said to Felix, "Think Hayley will be okay?"

"She has a Dreamworm in her mind forcing her through some of her deepest darkest nightmares, and the guys who are going to save her we don't know a _thing_ about!" Felix replied. "But, hey, what could possibly go wrong?"

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><p>That's the first chapter. Sorry it was so short, and I'm afraid I won't be able to update the next chapter for a while.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2. Took a lot quicker than I expected.

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

Mr. Stockley stood before the wide, metal table as the unconscious form spread across it that was Hayley moaned and faintly cried out in her sleep. A thin, silver headband, hooked by wires to a laptop resting on a desk beside it, had been place on Hayley's head, a small, red light in the centre flashing and beeping quietly.

Most Dreamworms are bent only on invading a host and forcing it through its deepest, darkest nightmares, and this one was obviously no exception.

Mr. Stockley then glanced across the room at the three metallic thrones and the dome-shaped, metallic headsets held above them by several gears and circuits. He prayed that the Yorkville Troop would arrive sooner or later.

Mr. Stockley strode across the room over to the chairs and, fiddling with a few wires, checked one last time that the devices were properly working.

Once Mr. Stockley was convinced the devices weren't going to malfunction and wipe their users' minds, he strode towards the doorway into the control hub, ready to welcome the Yorkville Troop when they arrived.

**Lakewood Power Plant, meanwhile**

The two Battle Cruisers sped out of the woods and swerved to a stop at the edge of the clearing the massive power plant was built in.

The moment Jake and Felix got a clear look at the power station, they knew for certain that something had definitely happened here.

Much more smoke than normally poured from the towering, huge smoke stacks as flames danced across the complex.

Fire trucks were swerved to halt as close to the power plant as they could get, and were firing gushing blasts of water into the fire.

Jake swiftly climbed off his Battle Cruiser, a Blaster in his arms, staring at the ravaged power station and the ranks of fire trucks shooting water at it.

Jake wanted to capture this Electromancer so he could get it over with and go help save Hayley. But now Jake could see clear as day why the Electromancer is considered one of the most elusive monsters ever.

"Let's get this over with!" Jake said to Felix, who had not gotten off his Battle Cruiser and was stuck into his portable Troop Grid. "You're wasting your time going in there," Felix replied, his voice heavy with disappointment.

Jake spun round to face Felix, his blood boiling with anger and frustration. One minute Felix was like a kid on Christmas morning for capturing the Electromancer. Now he couldn't even be bothered!

Jake was a split second from bursting out with anger at Felix when he said quietly, "The Electromancer's long gone. It just reappeared at the Murphys'."

**The Murphys' House, meanwhile**

Kevin Murphy sat cross-legged on the carpet before the TV, waiting for the power to come back on so that he could watch the rest of his favorite show.

The power had been out for nearly half an hour, and his parents and sister were over nextdoor. They had, however, locked all the doors so that no-one could get to Kevin.

Kevin felt excitement at getting back to seeing his show flare through him when an electrical current shot through the power lines, and through the electric socket into the TV, making something briefly flash across the screen.

But at that moment, hope turned to fear as the TV unleashed a shower of sparks, and something burst out from in the TV's screen!

It hovered in the air mere feet before Kevin, its body spitting a few sparks every now and then.

It was made entirely of a bright yellow current of electricity or lightning. It had two long arms which each ended in three thick, long claws. In place of a torso below its arms, was a long, lightning-bolt shaped tail, like a ghost's in a kids' show, extending back into the TV set. The Electromancer's head was slightly bigger than a full-grown man's, with two huge, pointed ears, like a cat's but much bigger, and its face was what scared Kevin about it most: its face was that of an insanely grinning jack-o' lantern, its eyes and jagged grin glowing a bright, electrical blue.

The Electromancer floated there in mid-air for a second, its face inches from the petrified Kevin's as it examined him carefully.

Then, in less than a bare instant, the Electromancer had become a bolt of lightning and was moving between lamps and the overhead light, vanishing into each one, and then coming out and going into another one, each one bursting into a shower of sparks and flames as it left it.

In seconds, smoke was pouring from every destroyed electrical appliance in the living room. For a moment, the Electromancer hovered in the air above the sofa, tossing back its head in a high, maniacal laugh.

Then, not a second after the Electromancer finished its insane cackle of victory, it had become a bolt of lightning again and vanished into an electric socket in the wall beside the couch, the socket spitting sparks and smoke behind the Electromancer.

**Troop HQ**

Mr. Stockley paced back and forth in the control hub, stroking his chin, feeling worry that the Yorkville Troop weren't coming begin to rise through his body.

At that moment, as if on cue, the metal elevator door slid open and Mr. Stockley knew from the moment he saw the three teenagers which stepped out that they were the Yorkville Troop.

The first was a strong-looking guy with black hair combed back, a muscular-looking face, and dark brown eyes. He was dressed in blue denim jeans, and a leather black jacket over a red T-shirt with a graffiti-style word (which Mr. Stockley could not read) across it.

The second was a tall and pretty girl with long, brown hair that went past her shoulders, beautiful green eyes and a smooth and beautiful face. She was dressed in tight, blue jeans like Hayley and a black shirt.

The third, however, was no doubt the Felix of the Yorkville Troop: a short guy with messy, blond hair, a pudgy, freckled face, wide, square glasses, slightly greasy, pale skin, and untidy khakis with a flannel shirt.

Almost at once, Mr. Stockley named himself, and said it was a pleasure to meet the three.

Then the three named theirselves: the girl's name was Gwen, the tough guy Ace, and the nerdy one Mark.

"Hear you've got a Dreamworm problem," Ace said.

"If we capture it alive, can I keep it this time?" Mark demanded.

"Haven't you already got four Snarks, a Danker and a Vespinox larva collection!" Ace replied.

"Anyway, what do you want us to do?" Ace asked Mr. Stockley.

Mr. Stockley led the three to the med bay, explaining the whole plan and the entire situation on the way. Pointing to the three metallic chairs, he explained, "And as you probably already know, those devices will allow you to enter her mind to defeat and remove the Dreamworm."

Ace, Gwen and Mark glanced down at the lifeless form on the metal table. For a few moments, a total silence fell across the med bay.

Then Ace proclaimed, "Let's do this!" and he, Gwen and Mark strode across the room over to the three waiting chairs while Mr. Stockley moved towards the laptop.

Ace, Gwen and Mark each lowered theirselves in a chair and lowered the large headpieces down over their heads.

Glancing up from the laptop, Mr. Stockley said quietly to the three, "Ready?"

"Yes," Ace replied while Gwen and Mark nodded in response from under their helmets.

Mr. Stockley hesitated for a moment. Then he punched the Enter button on the laptop's keyboard, and at once, everything before Ace's eyes faded to a sheet of blinding white.

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><p>I'll try and get to work on chapter 3 as quick as I can.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry chapter 3 took a while.

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><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

The two Battle Cruisers swerved to a stop beside a huge, black rubbish skip against the graffiti-riddled wall of the alleyway, and Jake and Felix quickly climbed off.

Jake had lost count of how many homes and buildings the Electromancer had attacked, only for it to be long gone by the time him and Felix got there.

"We're never going to catch the Electromancer like this," Felix gasped heavily, clearly exhausted from chasing the monster all around town.

Jake felt a spark of hope that Felix would give up, and Jake could head back to Troop HQ to make sure Hayley was alright, begin to flare within him, then felt it die as soon as it was born as Felix proclaimed, "We're going to have to try and lay a trap."

"How?" Jake snapped, feeling that anger begin to boil in his veins once again at how Felix couldn't even consider or hope that Hayley was alright!

"Good thing I got this!" Felix exclaimed as he fished a small piece of what looked like some sort of circuit out of his pockets.

Jake could hardly see the circuit properly in the darkness of the alley, and at the moment, he didn't care.

"And how's that piece of junk going to help?" Jake groaned.

"Well," Felix explained, oblivious to Jake's worry for Hayley, "the Electromancer is travelling through the power lines, which is how it's avoiding us. This little baby" – Felix held up the circuit - "sucks the power out of anything you plug it into, but the power lines are down, so plug this into the power lines and SHAZOW!"

"What's 'shazow'?" Jake growled impatiently.

"Our Electromancer is in the cage!" Felix exclaimed.

"Let's just get this over with," Jake muttered, climbing back onto his Battle Cruiser.

Felix also climbed atop his Battle Cruiser and, starting the Cruisers, the two sped up the alleyway to capture the monster.

**Somewhere Else…**

Ace jerked his head out of the sand and rose to his feet, staring around at where he was. Gwen and Mark were also staggering to their feet from the thick sand, sputtering and choking.

They were in a desert of yellow, dry sand for as far as the eye could see, except for the occasional clawed, crooked tree.

Dozens of thick, bloodred clouds danced across a charcoal-black sky.

Ace, Gwen and Mark all gazed around at the desert for any signs of other life.

_This shouldn't be right_, Ace though gazing round. _If Hayley isn't somewhere nearby, the Dreamworm should be_.

Ace turned in a full circle, about to go search for any further away sign of life when something caught his eye at least fifty feet away. He squinted to see what it was, and knew at once he had just found who he was looking for.

It was a woman with long, blonde hair thrashing and gasping for air in a pond of what Ace was certain to be blood.

Then, Mark jumped with surprise as the world around the three began to swirl and shift until Ace was at the foot of a great pond of blood, making him move back slightly.

Ace glanced down at the pond of blood, and at once knew that Hayley, the woman in it, was going through hell.

Hayley thrashed and gasped for mouthfuls for air, splashing blood everywhere, her head bursting from the blood to sink back beneath it moments later over and over.

And floating in the pond of blood around Hayley creeped even Ace out: at least a dozen blood-covered skulls, each with dark, vacant eye sockets and short, blonde hair atop their scalps.

Ace was sure that Mark would throw up at the sight of the pond of blood and bone in the real world, especially as the skulls' jaws slowly moved open and shut in unision and spoke in an eerie, dry whisper of a voice that would be enough to make any living creature's blood curdle in the real world: "You've missed a lot of homework!"

Ace reached across the pond of blood for Hayley's flailing arms as she splashed blood everywhere and the skulls continued to swirl around her.

Ace stretched his arm as far across the wide pond as he could, but it was hopeless. Hayley was in the centre of the pond, nearly six feet across from Ace and the others.

There must be some other way to get to her, Ace thought, puzzling it over as quickly as he could.

Then he remembered this was all just a nightmare, and it struck him.

Just as it did, as if on que, Ace heard Mark behind him cry out with amazement as his hand stretched like elastic across the pond of blood for Hayley's hand before Ace's eyes.

It wasn't that amazing to Ace; he had done things not that different when he entered the Yorkville butcher's mind to save him from a Dreamworm.

Gwen and Mark had both been away, though.

The moment Ace felt his hand touch Hayley's, he quickly grabbed onto it. As he did, Hayley abruptly stopped thrashing in the water, and quickly grabbed on Ace's long arm with her other hand.

Just as Hayley did so, as if she had triggered a reverse switch, Ace saw his arm slowly retract back to its normal length, dragging Hayley across the pond of blood, away from the chanting, whispering skulls. She bunted a few nearear her away in disgust, sending each a few feet across the surface of the blood.

As soon as Ace's arm was normal length again, Gwen and Mark dived past him for Hayley, each grabbing onto her by either side and helping Ace haul her onto the dry sand.

Nobody even had breaths to regain in the dream world, and were quickly on their feet.

"Who are you?" Hayley demanded, glancing between the three strangers who stood before her.

Ace was the first to introduce himself, then Gwen and Mark.

"Where are we? What's going on?" Hayley pressed on, trying to brush blood from her pajamas with her hands.

"You've been invaded by a Dreamworm," Gwen explained. The moment she said that, Hayley's eyes widened with horror, then, everyone but Ace nearly cried out with surprise as the skulls' chanting died down and the blood in the pond began to bubble. It was as though someone – or something – was breathing at the bottom of the pond of blood!

"Get back," Ace ordered in a voice so quiet, it was almost a whisper.

Slowly, one by one, Gwen, Mark and Hayley obeyed, fearful of taking their eyes off the pond of blood.

The skulls bobbed on the surface of the blood, virtually unmoving, lifeless.

Then something under the surface of the blood caught Hayley's eye. She squinted to get a clearer look, and cried out with surprise as something burst out of the blood.

Everyone staggered back, away from the pond, just as surprised as Hayley had been.

As soon as Hayley was far enough away from the pond, she felt fear flow through her as she recognised the monster from its toad-shaped head just above the surface: its milky glaring eyes burning scarlet with hatred, its leathery, blue skin, its mouthful of cracked and jagged teeth!

_It was the Dreamworm!_

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><p>And that's chapter 3. <em>Please <em>review!

Oh, and in case it isn't obvious from their blond hair, the chanting skulls in the pond of blood represent Gus.

And the reason Hayley didn't remember being attacked and invaded by the Dreamworm, is that a Dreamworm's host forgets ever being attacked by it once they're invaded. Y'know, like the facehuggers from the _Alien_ films.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry chapter 4 took a while, but I got stuck for ideas for most of it again.

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><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

The Dreamworm's head bobbed just above the surface of the blood, its vicious, scarlet eyes glaring right at Hayley like an alligator at its prey!

Then, as the three others caught the monster's gaze, its jaws open wide in a shrill screech of hatred that would have been enough to chill any living thing in the real world!

Then, as the Dreamworm's shriek trailed off and finished, its head slowly sank back into the pond of blood until only its eyes remained above the surface, glaring straight into Hayley with pure malice.

Then the eyes sunk back into the pond of blood as well, and the Dreamworm was gone.

Hayley glanced around at Ace, Gwen and Mark, and saw at once that they were just as fearful as her of the nightmare suddenly springing some horrific trap at them, as the three glanced around at the barren desert or any sign of something coming.

Hayley spun round in a full circle. Then something moving in the sand a few feet to the left of the pond of blood caught Hayley's eye and she felt fear seep through her as the small, blue thing scuttled out of its hiding place beneath the sand.

Hayley recognised the monster at once as its several eyes stared around from on their stalks: it was an Oculypse!

"_Guys_," Hayley exclaimed, not taking her eyes off the Oculypse.

Ace followed her gaze, and the moment he saw the Oculypse, Hayley felt a slight change in the air as Ace magicked something into being.

For a moment, there was total silence. Then Mark exclaimed, "How did you do that?" gawking at the Blaster in Ace's hands, all of Mark's attention towards the Oculypse now lost.

But even in the dream world, the talking between the three seemed far away to Hayley, just as it would in the real world. All of Hayley's attention was focused on the Oculypse before her and the desert around her for any signs of the Dreamworm.

Then, without warning, the Oculypse pounced from the sand straight at Hayley's face, tail whipping madly, eyes glaring hungrily.

Almost at once, there was a flash of blue light from a Blaster discharging, and the Oculypse inches from Hayley's face, rather than explode in a shower of monster goo like a real-life monster would, abruptly blinked out of existence.

The moment the Oculypse was vapourized, as if on cue, Hayley felt the ground tremble and harden beneath her feet. Everyone glanced around at the desert. The sky was turning to a swirl of all colours imaginable, and the landscape was beginning to twist and re-shape as the world around them shifted to another.

**Jake's House**

Felix carefully plugged the small circuit into a little socket on top of the Blaster. Felix knew then from the little beep that replied from the Blaster that the circuit really would work on the Blaster.

Felix stared round at the living room, dimly lit by the sunlight pouring in through the window.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Jake exclaimed from the doorway to the kitchen.

"When have I ever messed up?" Felix exclaimed as he turned round to face Jake.

Felix managed to catch in the dim, flickering light of the candles Jake rolling his eyes at that.

"Apart from that washing machine thing with the Mongolian Death Worm," Felix muttered quietly, lowering his head slightly.

"Let's just get this over with!" Jake snapped.

"Alright," Felix said, "I'll use this microgenerator-" Felix slipped a small, silver cylinder from his pocket and held it up to his face for Jake to see "-to turn the house's power back on in the living room. When the Electromancer takes the bait, SHAZOW!"

"And that's gonna work _how_?" Jake snarled.

"Electromancers are attracted to electricity and power sources like moths to a flame!" Felix replied, completely oblivious to Jake's impatience and worry for Hayley. "And I've plugged the circuit into the Blaster, so blast the Electromancer when it shows up, and SHAZOW!"

"Let's just get this over with," Jake groaned, striding from the doorway up to Felix.

"Fine," Felix sighed loudly, a hint of disappointment at Jake's disinterest in the plan in his voice. "Find someplace to hide!"

Jake glanced around the living for a perfect place to hide that didn't have an electric socket or table lamp near it for the Electromancer to attack Jake through. It took a few seconds, but Jake eventually found it behind the sofa in the corner across the room from the TV. Slowly striding up to the sofa, Jake pushed it forward a few feet to give him enough room between the wall and the sofa, and he crouched down in the small space.

Jake crouched quite low behind the sofa, but his eyes remained just above the top, ready to scan the living room for any sign of the Electromancer. He glanced across the room in time to catch Felix ducking into the doorway to the kitchen.

Then, no more than a couple seconds later, the TV turned on to static.

For a few moments, nothing happened.

Then, a faint beeping rang out from the Troop Grid in Jake's jeans pocket. Immediately, Jake slipped the portable Troop Grid from his pocket and held it up to his face.

The device's screen showed a radar map of Lakewood, and a small red blip that was the Electromancer darting along utility lines towards their street, moving from one street to another in a second, each time getting closer to the Collins' street!

"It's coming!" Jake called across the living room to Felix.

But by the time those words had left Jake's mouth, the Electromancer was already on their street, and darting up it towards the Collins' house.

A bare instant later, white light lashed across Jake's eyes as the electrical monster burst from the TV in a shower of sparks.

As soon as the monster appeared, floating mid-air before the TV, Jake managed to catch the blue flash of a Blaster discharging, but by the time the bolt of energy was halfway across the living room, the Electromancer had vanished into the overhead light in a flash of light and sparks from the ceiling.

In another split second, as the pulse blast hit the wall just to the left of the TV, the wall was torn open in a cloud of thick, grey dust and a rain of scarlet bricks.

It took a few minutes for the dust to fully clear, but when it did, and Jake found himself staring out the massive hole at the side of the Burkers' house, Jake could think of one thing above virtually all else: _I am_ so _grounded when Mom sees this!_

"Uh, Felix?" Jake called in nearly a whimper over to Felix.

"Yes?" Felix's voice roared in response, clearly about to go mad with power.

"You think you could turn down the power on the Blaster?"

Then, as if on cue, the Electromancer burst from the overhead light in a bolt of bright blue lightning, and before Jake knew it, Felix was blindly firing shots at the monster as it bounced off table lamps and light switches like a laser of mirrors. It was toying with them.

In a few minutes, Felix and the Electromancer hadn't spared much of what was once the living room. Then, the energy blasts abruptly gave way to the beeping honks of the Blaster that meant it was out of power!

As soon as this happened, the Electromancer abruptly froze, mid-air, grinning jaggedly across the living room at Felix's defeat.

Jake kept his eyes traded on the Electromancer in case it took him by surprise the moment he looked away.

But all of the monster's attention was focused on Felix as its insane, jagged grin gloated his defeat.

Jake glanced ever so slightly around for anything at all to use against the monster before it finished gloating and decided to finish Felix off! But there was nothing. Most of the living room was now a dusty pile of rubble, and if Jake tried to dive for something, the Electromancer would be able to get to him from the other side of the house before he could blink!

_We're dead_, a detached, hopeless part of Jake that he'd rarely ever heard before, thought. _We're going to be dead any minute!_

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><p>If you're wondering where Jake's family are when the Electromancer attacks the house, I like to think that Phoebe and Mrs. Collins are at the movies and Mr. Collins is at work.<p>

And_ please _review!_  
><em>


	5. Chapter 5

And here's chapter 5. Sorry again that it took a while.

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

The Electromancer hovered in the air, grinning jaggedly with victory across the room at Felix. Then, without warning, it darted through the air and across the room, and before Jake had time to react, it had vanished beyond the doorway to the kitchen.

It all happened too fast for Jake to memorise all of it, but from what he could, just as the Electromancer vanished into the kitchen, there was a blinding flash of blue light, and a loud thump as something about the average size of a man collapsed to the kitchen floor.

Then there was total silence.

"Felix?" Jake called out, staring across the room at the kitchen doorway. _No!_ Jake thought. _Please let Felix just be out cold!_

"FELIX!"

**The Dream World, meanwhile**

The space around Hayley began to shrink and collapse towards her as the sand beneath her feet hardened into a reflective school floor.

_Bet this would remind Chris of something out of_ Silent Hill, Hayley thought as the scene around her, Ace, Gwen and Mark continued to transform. The space around them shrank into a long corridor, and in a few more seconds, everything around them had transformed into a dark, silent version of the corridors of Lakewood High.

Hayley glanced around at the dark, quiet corridor. Both walls were lined with rows of grey lockers going on and on until the corridor gave way to a turn at either end onto another corridor.

In the real world, it would've been impossible for any human to see in the darkness that shrouded the corridor, but not always in dreams and nightmares.

Ace glanced around the dark, empty corridor for any sign of movement, Blaster raised. He knew in his gut that the Dreamworm was going to throw something at them sooner or later. He'd learnt that the first time he dealt with a Dreamworm.

For a while, there was no movement or sound other than the four in the dark corridor of silence. To Ace, it was no doubt an attempt by the Dreamworm to catch them off-guard.

Ace glanced over his shoulder at Gwen, Mark and Hayley behind him. They were still glancing around for any sign of something coming, but much more calmly and steadily now. Clearly, they had begun to fall for it.

That distraction was only brief, but it was just enough for the Dreamworm; Ace turned back to the end of the corridor, and found himself staring through the darkness into the four round, soulless, black eyes of a Quadro-Gob.

It was exactly like the real-life version: a deep-blue, spider-like body, a pointed, elongated snout, four long, jointed, spindly legs rimmed near the stubby ends with spikes. Except this Quadro-Gob was surrounded by a heart-plummeting aura that chilled even Ace down to the bone.

Ace opened his mouth to shout out to the others the newly-arrived monster. But before any sound could come from Ace's mouth, in a heartbeat the Quadro-Gob had lowered its head and lifted Ace up into the air.

Ace felt himself slam into the other three, knocking them and himself down to the floor.

The next thing Ace knew, he was lying facedown atop Hayley, Mark and Gwen, and towering above him was the Quadro-Gob. It was directly atop Ace, snarling and hissing down at him menacingly, its wide eyes staring without mercy straight into his.

Ace felt at least two of the three beneath him squirm out, and next he was suddenly being dragged by either arm across the floor, away from the shrieking monster.

Ace quickly staggered from the others' grip to his feet, and stared across the corridor at the Quadro-Gob about ten feet away. Its legs were arched. It was ready to come forward faster than anything at any moment!

Ace quickly remembered how the first time he dealt with a Dreamworm, he slowed down a Blood Thrasher in the nightmare by blasting it. And once he saw the Quadro-Gob prepare itself to attack he did just that: he quickly raised his Blaster and fired a shot straight at the vicious monster.

But Ace could almost sense his three comrades' hope come crashing down as, before the pulse blast was halfway across the corridor towards its target, the Quadro-Gob's stumps for feet left the floor, and the vicious, snarling creature was on the ceiling, upside down, like a grotesque giant spider in some horror movie.

The pulse blast vanished out of sight, and the second it did, as if on cue, the Quadro-Gob released a bloodthirsty howl, and, like something out of a bloodcurdling monster movie, came strutting on its spiny legs, across the ceiling straight at the four!

"Run!" Ace shouted, staggering back from the monster as it scuttled ever closer, and before he knew it, he, Hayley, Mark and Gwen were darting full-speed down the dark corridor of hell, the snarling monster in hot pursuit.

**Jake's House, meanwhile**

Without thinking, Jake dashed from his hiding place behind the sofa, and straight through the doorway into the kitchen. The moment he saw the lifeless form sprawled across the linoleum floor, Jake felt a thousand horrifying thoughts rush through his mind.

_What if he's dead?_

Struggling to push these heart-stopping thoughts from his head, Jake found himself rushing to the side of his fallen friend, and pressing his fingers to his artery in praying search of a pulse. Then, Jake felt a wave of relief flood through him and vanquish the dark, worrying thoughts, as, through the spasms and shaking from the electric shock, Jake could just feel a pulse.

Then, Jake's relief became short-lived as it abruptly came back to him: _the Electromancer!_

Jake glanced around the kitchen for any sign of the mischievous, electrical monster. Smoke was poring up from the toaster across the room by the kitchen window, but it seemed the Electromancer had left the house through the toaster.

_Or it's just hiding in the house's power grid!_ Jake thought. Once he was sure Felix was alright, he grabbed the Blaster from beside the refrigerator, and, rising to his feet, stared around the kitchen for any sign of the Electromancer resurfacing.

Jake was about to raise the Blaster to use against the Electromancer. Then he remembered how Felix had said that it was out of power, and decided there was no point.

Then it suddenly struck Jake without warning: _If I can trick the Electromancer into passing through this Blaster, maybe the circuit-thingy will use the Blaster to trap it!_

"Hey, zappy!" Jake yelled at the top of his voice, praying the Electromancer was still in the house and that it would be able to hear him from in the house's power grid. "Are you just gonna get this over with, or are you gonna be a total chicken and run off screaming?"

Jake had his doubts that this would work, as Electromancers were one of the most elusive known monsters.

Then, Jake's ear just managed to catch a faint crackle of electricity from the power socket on the opposite wall.

Then, just as Jake threw the Blaster in front of him, he saw the Electromancer burst from the power socket straight at him, grinning jaggedly with malice, its eyes blazing with excitement.

There was a flash of yellow light as the Electromancer collided with the Blaster, and the next thing Jake knew, the smoking weapon was at his feet on the linoleum floor, vibrating slightly with furious crackling as the Electromancer tried to break free of the circuit.

A groan sounded from just to Jake's left, and as he turned, he breathed a sigh of relief as Felix stirred.

Jake held the Blaster in one hand, and helped Felix onto his feet with the other "Let's get sparky back to HQ," he found himself saying.

And with that, Jake helped Felix out of the kitchen and through the hallway towards the front door.

**The Dream World**

Hayley turned a corner, Ace, Gwen and Mark close behind, and at once she felt hope return as she caught sight of the classroom door on the left-hand wall a few feet away.

Before Hayley knew it, she was darting full-speed for the door and tearing it open, the hisses and screeches of the Quadro-Gob drawing ever closer.

Bursting through the open doorway and into the classroom, before any of the four had a chance to get a look at the classroom they had just entered, they were hurriedly stacking and piling desks and chairs over the door until the wooden door was impossible to see.

Then, just as they finished, Hayley froze with fear as a colourful wave of light washed over her, Gwen, Mark and Ace.

The four knew long before they slowly turned round and saw the source of the bright light, what it was.

The portal in the centre of the classroom cast all kinds of brilliant colours across the classroom. Everyone stood, stiff, staring across the classroom at the colourful panel of light.

Ace raised his Blaster, ready to fire at anything that burst through the portal and charged.

For what seemed like hours, nothing happened. Then, with a roar of bloodlust, Ace put his finger on his Blaster's trigger as something bigger than a man burst out of the portal, snarling and roaring as two more, different-shaped things followed behind it.

It was hard to make the three monsters out in the light from the portal behind them, but Ace just managed to recognise them: the first one was a Two-Headed Zylork, and the other two roaring, snarling Helmatrops!

The three monsters fixed their bloodthirsty eyes on the four, drooling and growling with vicious hatred and hunger!

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><p>I'll try and get to work on chapter 6 pronto.<p>

Oh, and in case you're wondering why the microgenerator didn't recharge Felix's Blaster, it's because it doesn't run on the same power as your everyday lights.

And if you haven't read Leaves of Evil, then Chris is the school geek (in my universe anyway).


	6. Chapter 6

I'm sorry chapter 6 took so long. But anyway, here it is.

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

The three monsters stood in the light of the portal, pawing at the floor eagerly, staring straight across the classroom at the three.

Then, without warning, the three massive creatures charged full speed at the four, snarling and shrieking with hunger and rage.

It all happened too fast for Hayley to recall most of it, even in the dream world. But the next thing she did know, either Helmatrop had Gwen or Mark pinned under its gigantic feet, while the Zylork held a gasping Ace high like a prize, both the Zylork's heads grinning jaggedly at the choking human in its grip with victory.

The Blaster dropped from Ace's hands to the floor and, the moment it hit the floor, it blinked out of existence.

Hayley stared round at the three monsters and their defeated opponents. For a moment, Hayley managed to draw up from her collapsing hope and confidence the strength to take enough control of her dream to banish the monsters.

But before she could do so, that remaining spark was snuffed out by a voice Hayley had always both hated and feared somewhere deep down: "_I hope you don't mind the company I thought your friends might like_."

The moment Hayley realized where the person the voice belonged to was, that figure stepped out of the portal, grinning with insane glee in the light from the portal.

_It was Gus!_

For what seemed like hours even in the dream world, Gus stood in the light from the portal, grinning with pure insanity straight at Hayley, holding her paralyzed in his gaze.

As Gus did, Hayley just caught a scarlet glint in his glassy, blue eyes and realized at once what he was. She had hoped from the moment Gus had emerged from the portal into Hayley's nightmare that he was just a figment of her nightmare like the monsters.

But that glint had crushed all of Hayley's hopes that the creature before her in Gus's form was that. It wasn't an illusion like everything else. _It was the Dreamworm!_

Sensing Hayley's realisation, before she knew it, Gus had thrown his arms out in front of him and a jet of fiery red lightning was bursting from his palms straight at her!

It all happened so fast. The red lightning hit Hayley square in the chest, knocking the air out of her, and before she could react any further, everything around her – the classroom, Gus, the portal, the monsters – had dissolved into a white void.

**Troop HQ**

Jake burst out of the elevator and into the control hub just as the metal door slid open, hoping to see Hayley safe and awake.

Jake felt that flame of hope die away nearly as soon as it was born as he burst into the med bay and saw the lifeless form spread across the metal table and the three unconscious figures sitting in the metal chairs, a dome-shaped device over each one's head.

"Jake? Felix?" Jake spun round in time to see Mr. Stockley stride into the med bay, escorted by a red-faced Felix.

"We caught the Electromancer!" Jake proclaimed.

"Excellent!" Mr. Stockley replied.

"How's Hayley?" Jake asked.

Mr. Stockley hesitated before saying, "She could be doing worse." Everyone in the room glanced down at Hayley, all able only to hope that she would be alright.

**The Dream World, meanwhile**

For a second, the whiteness held. Then it dissipated like a parting fog.

Hayley stared around at her new surroundings. She was standing in a burning street, Ace, Gwen and Mark at her feet and rising onto their feet. There were cars swerved off the road, houses and skyscrapers on the horizon, all of them alight with flames that turned the sky a blood red.

Everyone glanced around for any sign of the Dreamworm or another surprise from it.

Then something caught Hayley's eye just ten or twenty feet down the street from her. A human body. No flames were touching it, and Hayley could clearly see the pale, lifeless face in the flickering light from the nearby dancing flames.

"JAKE!"

Before Hayley knew it, she was darting full-speed towards Jake's lifeless body, and kneeling beside it as she burst into tears.

Hayley buried her face in her hands as Ace, Mark and Gwen rushed over to her.

Then, after what seemed like hours of sobbing over Jake's dead body, something was finally able to make Hayley lower her hands from her face, which was red with tears. It was a hissing whisper of a voice: "_Such a tragic loss for such a weak little girl_."

Everyone stared around for any sign of the Dreamworm.

After a few moments, Hayley felt a wave of hopelessness flood her body as she saw the insane face of Augustus in the raging flames beyond Jake's body. It was as though just looking at the face in the flames destroyed every spark of what little hope or even happiness still remained in her body.

"_Not that poor Jake would have thought the same as you are if he saw _your_ lifeless corpse_!" the voice snarled nastily, the face of Gus in the flames grinning with glee and pleasure at Hayley's mental torture and agony.

"_Why would he ever want you of all women_?"

"Don't listen to it! IT'S LYING!" Ace yelled over the roars of the massive flames.

At that moment, Hayley felt a new field of warmth from just behind her appear as a wall of uncrossable flames roared up from the ground between her and Ace, Gwen and Mark.

"_Ah, the uninvited guests_!" the voice snarled, the face of Gus looking up from Hayley and through the flames at the three beyond as all of the Dreamworm's attention was focused on them.

"_Tough, battle-hardened Ace. Weakly, futureless Mark! And quiet little Gwen, her heart so heavy with secret and emotion_!"

As the Dreamworm taunted the three, Hayley was unable to help but look down one more time at the face of Jake's lifeless body. The moment she did, her mind began to swim with thoughts and fears of whether or not what the Dreamworm had said about him and her was true. And with these thoughts, one of them made realisation strike Hayley.

Staring up at Gus's face in the flames, Hayley said without thinking, "You're the weak one."

The taunting voice abruptly trailed off as the face glared down at Hayley.

"_What do you mean_?" the voice demanded, beginning to weigh with fear.

Hayley stared up, straight into the fiery face, her fire of hope igniting rather than diminishing this time. "Me, and Ace, and Mark, and Gwen can have bright futures and lead long lives filled with love and happiness!" Hayley proclaimed. "Whereas you're doomed to an existence of mindlessly living and surviving off others!"

The world around Hayley began to turn fuzzy and distorted as the Dreamworm's power began to rapidly diminish. The face of Gus filled with panic and fear. Hayley stared up into the panicking face. "Now go to hell."

Just as Hayley said this, the face of Gus opened its mouth wide in a scream of defeat, and the world around them vanished in an explosion of fiery golden light.

**Troop HQ**

Ace snapped back into his body in time to see a blue ball of slime that was the Dreamworm burst from Hayley's mouth and stick to the ceiling above her in a gooey mess.

The moment the Dreamworm left Hayley's mouth, her eyes shot awake. Mr. Stockley and Jake immediately rushed to her side to remove the headband and help her off the table, as Ace, Gwen and Mark rose from the metal chairs.

"It's gone," Hayley announced as she was helped off the table. Jake probably would've hugged Hayley as he had done after she was turned to stone, but remembered what a fool he had made of himself and decided against it.

"Uh, guys," Gwen called across the room, staring up at the ceiling. Everyone followed her gaze, and saw at once that the nightmare was not yet over.

The sticky, blue mess, which had been sticking to the ceiling moments before, was gone.

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><p><em>Please<em> review and tell me what you think this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Here's the seventh and final chapter. Didn't take half as long as I thought it would after chapters 5 and 6!

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><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

The moment Jake, Felix and Ace noticed the monster's absence, they each drew a Circuitron from their pockets and held it out, ready to fire at anything moving in the darker corners of the med bay.

For what seemed like hours, no-one saw or heard anything moving under the desks or in the corners.

Then, just when Jake was beginning to lower his guard, he cried out with surprise as the giant, blue, toad-like monster burst out from behind a large desk holding vials, and slammed full-force into Jake's stomach, knocking him down.

In a heartbeat, the Dreamworm was atop Jake's and tearing his mouth wide open, ready to crawl in and invade him.

Ace and Felix both trained their Circuitrons on the Dreamworm, but did not fire, should they hit Jake instead.

Hayley froze with fear and was seconds from diving forward to tear the Dreamworm away from Jake.

But she never got the chance.

Felix yelled across the med bay at the Dreamworm. The monster looked up from Jake at Felix, its rage-flooded eyes staring straight into his.

Just as it did this, without a second thought, Felix hurled the circuit straight at the Dreamworm.

Before the Dreamworm could react, the circuit had reached Felix's target, and a crackling, blue current of electricity burst from the circuit and blazed over the Dreamworm.

Just as the Electromancer was fused with the Dreamworm, the monster leapt off Jake's body and landed beside him, shrieking and clawing at the air as the two fused monsters tried to tear away from each other.

But both the monsters' attempts were futile. The circuit kept them merged.

Jake crawled away from the combined monsters, and, staggering to his feet, stared with awe as the Dreamworm and the Electromancer continued to try to separate.

After a few minutes of this, without warning, the Dreamworm abruptly froze as though someone had hit a pause button on it.

Then, all that anyone could see was a blinding whiteness for a split second. Then, the whiteness vanished as soon as it was born, and where the fused Electromancer and Dreamworm had been, there was only a charcoal-black, smoking burn on the floor where the two merged monsters had vapourized themselves.

For what seemed like hours, everyone stood, staring at the spot where the Dreamworm and the Electromancer had been moments before.

Then, the silence was broken when Jake turned to Felix, and exclaimed, "You gave up a great Troop reward for _me_?"

Felix smiled and replied, "Well, bros before…" Felix spent the next few minutes staring into space as he tried to think of a word that meant 'honour' and rhymed with 'bros'.

**10 Minutes Later**

Gwen, Mark and Ace moved across the control hub towards the elevator, Mr. Stockley saying that he hoped to see them again as they passed by him.

Gwen and Mark strode into the elevator, but Ace stopped just outside the elevator doors, and turned to Hayley, who was leaning against the wall by the elevator, clearly deep in thought over what had happened in the nightmare.

Ace leaned close to Hayley so that no-one but Hayley would be able to hear him, and whispered to Hayley, "Is anything going on between you and Jake yet?"

Hayley nearly jumped with surprise as she was snapped back to reality.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hayley replied aloud, clearly lying through her teeth.

"You know, you two wouldn't make a half bad couple!" Ace whispered into Hayley's ear. And without another word, Ace stepped into the elevator after Gwen and Mark, and the elevator door slid shut behind him.

Hayley glanced across the room at Jake. He had his back to Hayley, with Felix next to him and talking to him. Hayley could not pick out the words, but it was probably about giving up the reward for catching an Electromancer to save Jake.

Hayley had to admit she did like Jake, but in a way that she could not understand.

A thousand thoughts about what Ace had whispered to her were swimming through her head at that moment, while Jake's mind, unknown to Hayley, was still flooding with relief that Hayley was alright.

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><p>Well, that's it. Hoped you liked it.<p> 


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